Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING SHEET PRODUCTS
Technical field
The present disclosure relates to a dispenser configured to
contain and dispense sheet products, particularly sanitary
paper sheet products such as hand towels, paper napkins,
facials, toilet paper or other wiping products in sheet form.
Background
Sheet products are generally stacked and accommodated in a
housing of the dispenser. The individual sheet products may be
folded. Comfortable dispensing of the folded sheet products
from the dispenser is enabled by interfolding consecutive sheet
products. Thus, when a folded sheet product is pulled out
through a dispensing opening of the dispenser, the immediate
next (consecutive) folded sheet product is also subject to a
pulling force making the immediate next folded sheet product
partially protrude from the dispensing opening and being
partially unfolded. Thus, this protruding part is easily
accessible and can be gripped by a user.
One problem with dispensers of this kind is that they can be
overloaded or overfilled with sheet products. This can result
in a high pressure against the stack of sheet products
increasing the friction between the individual sheet products
of the stack and the leading sheet product to be dispensed
through the dispensing opening and the dispenser.
In manual dispensers, in which a sheet product is dispensed by
manually gripping and withdrawing a sheet product through the
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dispensing opening, such increased friction may make it
difficult to remove the sheet product from the dispenser. In
the worst case, the sheet product may tear during withdrawal.
As regards interfolded stacks, the increased friction may also
prevent the next folded sheet product from partially protruding
from the dispensing opening as described above. Hence, it
becomes difficult to withdraw the next sheet product. In either
case, there is a certain risk that the user withdraws more
sheet products from the dispenser than necessary.
Considering automatic dispensers, comprising a dispensing
mechanism actuated by the user to automatically dispense a
specific number of sheet products, the increased friction may
impair the operation and reliability of the dispensing
mechanism in that no sheet product or the wrong number of sheet
products is dispensed. Also in this case damaging, particularly
ripping and tearing of the sheet products, cannot be excluded.
In view of the above, there is a need to prevent overfilling or
overloading of such dispensers. One such mechanism is
implemented in the manual dispenser disclosed in
US 2002/0074340 Al.
Another mechanism is disclosed in EP 0 506 243 Al.
Summary
It is desired to provide a mechanism for reliably preventing or
at least reducing the risk of high pressure exerted on the
sheet products within the dispenser due to overfilling or
overloading the dispenser, which is applicable substantially
independent from the configuration of the dispenser and
particularly the movement of the cover and is easy to use.
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The present disclosure suggests according to one aspect a
dispenser having the features defined in claim 1. Particular
examples and embodiments of the present disclosure are
contained in the dependent claims, the following description
and the drawings.
According to one aspect, a dispenser for dispensing sheet
products is suggested.
The dispenser may be a manual dispenser in which the sheet
products are dispensed by a manual pulling force.
Alternatively, the dispenser may be an automatic dispenser
including a dispensing mechanism configured to dispense a
specific number (one or more) of sheet products at a time. The
dispensing mechanism may be mechanically or electrically
triggered.
The dispenser can be particularly configured for dispensing
sanitary paper products in sheet form. Examples of sanitary
paper products are hand towels, paper napkins, facials, toilet
paper or other wiping products in sheet form. The sheet
products may be made of tissue paper (ISO 12625-1) or nonwoven
(ISO 9092).
The dispenser can be further configured to accommodate a
plurality of sheet products in the form of a stack. Thus, the
dispenser may have a longitudinal extension in the direction of
stacking. Within the stack, the sheet products may be
interfolded, wherein any interfolding technique may be
implemented, such as but not limited to those described in
EP 2 309 906 B1 or EP 2 751 002 B1. In this context,
interfolding is to be understood in that at least one panel of
a first sheet product is sandwiched between two panels of a
second sheet product adjacent to the first sheet product in the
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stack and one panel of a third sheet product is sandwiched
between two panels of the second sheet product, the third sheet
product being adjacent to the second sheet product in the
stack, and so on. As mentioned earlier, the benefit of
interfolding is when a leading folded sheet product is pulled
out through a dispensing opening of the dispenser, the
immediate next (consecutive) folded sheet product is also
subject to a pulling force making the immediate next folded
sheet product partially protrude from the dispensing opening
and being partially unfolded. A plurality of stacks of
interfolded sheet products may be contained in the dispenser,
wherein the sheet products at an interface between two
consecutive stacks are not interfolded, which is often referred
to as a bundle break.
The suggested dispenser includes a housing to accommodate the
stack of the sheet products, the housing defining a dispensing
opening. The housing of the dispenser may have a support
surface or a pedestal configured to place the housing on a
horizontal surface. Alternatively, the housing may be
configured for mounting on a vertical wall or post.
Furthermore, the dispensing opening may be directed in any
suitable direction when the housing is in use including a
downward, an upward, a forward or any intermediate direction.
The housing includes a housing body and a cover. The cover is
movably attached to the housing body, so that the cover can be
moved between an open refilling position and a closed use
position in order to enable refilling of the dispenser with one
or more stacks (bundles) of sheet products. In this context,
the cover may be rotatably and/or translationally movable
between the two positions. According to one aspect, the cover
is, however, rotatable about an axis of rotation.
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According to an example, the dispensing opening is defined in
the cover. As a result, the dispensing opening moves together
with the cover when the cover is moved to the open refilling
position or the closed use position. In other examples,
however, the dispensing opening may also be part of the housing
body.
Furthermore, the dispenser has a support plate reciprocally
movable within the housing and having a support surface for
supporting the stack of sheet products at one of opposite faces
of the stack. According to a particular aspect, the support
plate and its support surface are arranged so as to support
that face of the stack of sheet products facing away from the
dispensing opening (the last sheet of the stack). Further, the
support plate may be positioned distanced from the axis of
rotation of the cover, when the dispenser is filled with sheet
products. Even further, the direction of movement of the
support plate may be perpendicular to the axis of rotation of
the cover.
The support plate may be urged in a direction toward the
dispensing opening in order to continuously feed the sheet
products to the dispensing opening. This may be achieved by
implementing an elastic member, such as a spring, operatable
between the support plate and the housing body and tensioned in
the direction of the dispensing opening when the dispenser is
filled with sheet products. In one particular example, a
torsion spring may be employed. For example, a first end of the
sheet like torsion spring may be attached to the housing body
and a second opposite end of the torsion spring may be attached
to a rotatable axis mounted to the support plate. The torsion
spring tends to coil and is extended (uncoiled) upon movement
of the support plate away from the dispensing opening during
filling of the dispenser with one or more stacks of sheet
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products. Upon dispensing of the sheet products, the stack
decreases and the torsion spring continuously coils accompanied
by a rotation of the axis thereby moving the support plate
towards the dispensing opening. Yet, other elastic members may
as well be used, such as a tension spring.
The suggested dispenser further includes an overfilling or
overloading prevention mechanism. It is to be understood that
the term "overfilling or overloading prevention mechanism" does
not necessarily prevent overfilling at the time of refilling
but prevents high pressure to be exerted on the stack of sheet
products after the refilling has been completed. The
overfilling or overloading prevention mechanism including a
stop inhibiting a (further) movement of the support plate
during refilling and a link configured to operate the stop,
wherein the link is operated by the movement of the cover.
In particular, the stop is movable between an active position
in which the stop cooperates with the support plate limiting
the movability of the support plate within the housing in one
direction and an inactive position. The one direction may be a
direction away from the dispensing opening and may be the only
direction in which movement of the support plate is inhibited.
Further, the link is movably mounted in the housing body and
cooperates with the cover and the stop to move the stop into
the active position upon moving the cover into the open
refilling position. Thereby, an automatic operation of the stop
upon opening of the cover is realized making the refilling
process easy for the user. Further the link enables adaption of
the overfilling prevention mechanism to any kind of dispenser
independent of the attachment of the cover to the housing body.
Thus, the overfilling prevention mechanism of the present
disclosure is readily adaptable to a plurality of different
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dispensers still being purely mechanical and hence cost-
effective. In particular, a link, which can be produced as
relatively inexpensive plastic molding part, is relatively
inexpensive as compared to an electric solution incorporating a
switch and a driving mechanism. Furthermore, many of those
dispensers are standalone devices without power connection.
Thus, an electric solution is either not possible or would
implement batteries. In the latter case, the power budget would
be limited. In particular in dispensers in which the power is
also needed for other functions, such as with automatic
dispensers for driving the dispensing mechanism, the purely
mechanical solution of the present disclosure is preferred
because it is not stressing the power budget.
So as to provide a fairly simple mechanism, the link may be
urged in a direction away from the stop. This again may be
realized by providing an elastic member cooperating with the
link. In particular, a spring may be used which is at one of
opposite ends supported by the link and at the other of the
opposite ends support relative to the housing body. In a
particular example, a compression spring may be used as the
elastic member acting between the link and the housing body.
Yet, also other elastic members are conceivable such as a
tension spring or a torsion spring. In one example, the link
may be moved away from the stop upon movement of the cover into
the open refilling position by extension (or compressing) of
the spring, whereas the link is moved toward the stop upon
movement of the cover into the closed use position thereby
compressing (or by extension of) the spring.
According to one aspect, the link may be translationally
movable relative to the housing body. The translational
movement may for example be parallel to the translational
movement of the support plate. If an elastic member is
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implemented to urge the link in one direction, the elastic
member may induce the force in one direction, whereas closing
of the cover pushes the link in the opposite direction. Thus, a
simple and reliable mechanism can be realized. Yet, it is also
possible to employ a link that is rotatably or
translationally/rotatably supported in the housing body.
According to an aspect, the link is not physically connected to
the cover. Rather, the link is moved by mere contact with the
cover upon moving the cover into the closed use position. As
previously indicated, this may be employed in combination with
urging the link relative to the housing body in a direction
towards the cover. Accordingly, once the cover is opened (moved
to the open refilling position), the link is automatically
moved due to its urging. In this state, the link protrudes from
the housing body. After refilling the dispenser, the cover is
again closed (moved to the closed use position), wherein the
cover comes into contact with the protruding link and upon
further closing pushes the link back into the housing body
against the urging force.
In order to achieve a relatively low friction contact between
the link and particularly the protruding portion thereof and
the cover, particularly a surface of the cover facing the link,
the contact surface of the link may be curved. In one
embodiment, the cover may be rotatably attached to the housing
body about an axis of rotation perpendicular to the
translational movement of the link. In this particular
embodiment, it may be preferred that the contact surface is
curved from a point furthest away from the axis of rotation to
a point closest to the axis of rotation of the cover. The point
furthest away from the axis of rotation is, hence, protruding
furthest from the housing body and the protruding height
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gradually decreases from this point toward the point closest to
the axis of rotation of the cover.
In a particular embodiment, the stop is urged into the active
position. This again may be achieved by employing an elastic
member, particularly a spring. The spring may be a tension
spring. Yet, a compression spring is as well conceivable.
Accordingly, the stop will, depending on the used spring, by
extension or compression be automatically moved into the active
position limiting the movement of the support plate. If a
tension spring is used, the stop may include a hook hooking one
of opposite ends of the tension spring, wherein another hook is
fixed relative to the housing body hooking the other of the
opposite ends of the tension spring.
According to an aspect, the link and the stop may be decoupled.
In other words, it may be that the link and the stop are not
physically connected but cooperate by mere contact.
Particularly, a front face of the link cooperates (is
contactable/abutable) with a counter surface of the stop. Such
configuration simplifies the assembly process of the dispenser,
because the link and the stop may separately be mounted within
the housing body. Nevertheless, it is also conceivable to
physically connect the link and the stop by a joint. In this
case, it would in principle be also sufficient to either urge
the link in one direction as described above or the stop as
described above.
In one aspect, the stop is rotatable about an axis of rotation
between the active and the inactive position. To put it
differently, the stop is rotatably supported relative to the
housing body. If a translationally movable link is used (see
above), the translational movement may be translated into a
rotational movement enabling that the stop acts in a different
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direction than the movement of the link. In one particular
example mentioned above, the link is translationally movable
parallel to the movement of the support plate. Yet, in order to
limit this movement of the support plate, a stop has to be
moved into the movement path of the support plate. Due to the
stop being rotatably supported, the movement of the link
parallel to the movement of the support plate may be translated
into a movement "perpendicular" thereto, whereby the stop is
moved into the movement path of the support plate to assume its
active position. This provides for a very simple and effective
solution with only a small number of parts to translate the
movement without the necessity to provide complicated
transmissions and joints.
In a particular example, the stop includes a lever arm on one
side of the axis of rotation and configured to cooperate with
the link and a stop member on the opposite side of the axis of
rotation and configured to cooperate with the support plate for
limiting the movement of the support plate in the active
position of the stop. As explained above, the stop and the link
may cooperate by mere contact. In this context, for movement of
the stop, the counter surface of the stop is part of the lever
arm coming into contact with the contact surface of the link in
order to rotate the stop about the axis of rotation. The stop
member on the opposite side of the axis of rotation is thereby
rotated into the movement path of the support plate for
limiting its movement.
According to an aspect, the stop may have a projection for
limiting the movement of the stop. If for example the stop is
urged into the active position, as explained above and the stop
and link are not connected to each other (freely contactable)
as also explained above, this projection may ensure that the
stop always remains in a position in which the front face of
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the link and a counter surface of the stop are aligned relative
to each other so as to enable a contact thereof for movement of
the stop. If a rotatable stop is employed, the projection may
for example prevent over-rotation of the stop into a position
in which the front face of the link would pass by the counter
surface of the stop leading to a malfunction of the system.
According to one example, the projection is located on the stop
member.
According to an aspect, the support plate has a guide member
translationally guided along a guide of the housing body,
wherein the stop in the active position of the stop cooperates
with the guide member to limit the movement of the support
plate. The guide member may be T-shaped in cross-section
extending through a longitudinal opening of the guide and
catching behind the edges of the opening. According to this
aspect, the stop engages with the guide member, which is very
effective use of the available assembly space. In particular,
the housing body is primarily configured to accommodate the
sheet products. Yet, the support plate has to be guided within
the housing body along the stack of sheet products. Thus,
assembly space is needed for the guide of the support plate
anyway. Using this assembly space to also incorporate the stop
and the remainder of the overfilling prevention mechanism is
effective use of the available space.
As previously mentioned, the link is operated by the
opening/closing movement of the cover. Thereby, the link can
receive a double function. In particular, because the link is
operated by the opening/closing movement of the cover, the link
may also be used to detect whether the cover is opened/closed.
Accordingly, a switch may be provided which is fixed relative
to the housing body, wherein the switch is operated by the
movement of the link upon moving the cover into the open
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refilling position. Thus, the dispenser can recognize when the
cover is opened. This may particularly be beneficial if an
automatic dispenser is employed in order to prevent that the
dispensing mechanism is activated with the cover being in the
open refilling position, whereby misuse can be prevented. Also
manual dispensers may benefit from such a solution. For
example, the dispenser may be incorporated into a computer
network to indicate a filling state to a central location. In
this instance, an open cover may be noticed to the central
location as well.
According to an example, the switch may be a mechanical switch
having a manually movable actuating tab to operate the switch.
In this example, the link may have a cam surface acting on the
tab upon movement of the link so that the actuating tab is
moved and operates the switch. Yet, also other solutions such
as optical sensors, magnetic sensors, etc. may be used to
conclude on the open/close to state of the cover on the basis
of the movement or position of the link.
Further aspects of the present disclosure may be found in the
following description of a particular embodiment making
reference to the accompanying drawings.
Brief description of drawings
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a dispenser according to
an embodiment;
Figures 2A and 2B show bottom views of the dispenser of figure
1 with several parts being removed to reveal the overfilling
mechanism, wherein figure 2B still shows the side walls and the
cover of the casing, whereas these parts have been removed in
figure 2A;
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Figures 3A and 3B show top views of the dispenser of figure 1
with several parts being removed to reveal the overfilling
mechanism, wherein figure 3B still shows the side walls and the
cover of the casing, whereas these parts have been removed in
figure 3A;
Figure 4 shows a perspective bottom view of the overfilling
mechanism of figure 1; and
Figure 5 shows a back view of the overfilling mechanism of
figure 1.
Detailed description of a particular embodiment
Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals have been
used for the same elements.
A particular embodiment of a dispenser 1 is described as an
example with reference to figures 1 to 5.
The dispenser 1 includes a housing 2 having a housing body 3
and a cover 4 (the cover may also be referred to as a door). A
dispensing opening 5 is provided at the front of the cover 4.
The dispenser 1 is configured for being placed on a horizontal
surface as shown in figure 1 and with the dispensing opening 5
directed forward. Yet, also other orientations of the dispenser
1 are conceivable such as with the dispensing opening 5 being
directed downward or upward. A dispenser 1 having a downwardly
oriented dispensing opening is for example known from WO
2014/154282 Al.
The cover 4 is hinged to the housing body 3 so as to be
rotatable about a vertical axis. This has been proven
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advantageous for refilling the dispenser and the implementation
of an automatic dispensing mechanism 6 incorporated into the
cover 4. Yet, it is also conceivable that the cover 4 is
rotatable about a horizontal axis or to attach the cover so as
to be translationally and rotatably movable. In any case, the
cover 4 is fixed to the housing body 3 so as to be movable
between a closed use position in which the dispenser 1 is ready
for dispensing sheet products and an open refilling position
(shown in Figure 1) allowing refilling of the dispenser 1. In
the present embodiment, the cover 4 is rotated about the
vertical axis for moving the cover 4 between the two positions.
As previously mentioned, a dispensing mechanism 6 is
incorporated into the cover 4. The dispensing mechanism 6 is
driven by an electric motor for dispensing one or more sheet
products at a time. The dispensing mechanism 6 may be triggered
by a bottom 7 located on the cover 4. Yet, also other
triggering mechanisms known in the art are possible. Further,
the overfilling prevention mechanism described in the following
is also applicable to pure manual dispensers in which one sheet
product at a time is dispensed by being manually pulled out of
the dispensing opening 5.
The housing body 3 of the housing 2 defines a compartment 14
for accommodating a stack of sheet products. The housing body 3
has opposite side walls 8, a bottom 9, a back wall 10 and a
refilling opening 11 defined in a front wall 12. The cover 4 is
hinged to the front wall 12 and configured to cover the
refilling opening 11 in the closed use position and to give
access to the refilling opening 11 in the open refilling
position. Further, the housing body 3 has a removable top 13
which may be removed for easier access to the compartment 14
for refilling.
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The compartment 14 is delimited at its lower side by a bottom
plate 15 on which a lower edge of the sheet products may rest.
Further, two parallel longitudinal guides 16 are provided which
extend between the front wall 12 and the back wall 10. A
longitudinal opening 17 is provided between the two parallel
guides 16.
A support plate 18 (see figures 2 to 5) is provided within the
compartment 14. The support plate 18 has a support surface 19
for supporting a back face of the stack of sheet products (a
last sheet product in the stack of sheet products contained in
the dispenser 1). The support plate 18 is translationally
movable along the guides 16. For this purpose, the support
plate has a guide member 20 (see figures 2, 4 and 5). The guide
member 20 extends through the longitudinal opening 17 between
the guides 16 and catches behind the guides 16. In a particular
example as shown in the drawings, the guide member 20 is T-
shaped in cross section (see figure 5), the "T" being inverted.
The vertical leg of the "T" extends through the opening 17,
whereas the horizontal legs of the "T" catch behind the
opposite guides 16.
The support plate 18 is urged toward the refilling opening 11
and hence the dispensing opening 5 of the shown dispenser 1.
Accordingly, the support surface 19 of the support plate 18
pushes the stack of sheet products toward the dispensing
opening 5. According to an example, this may be achieved by
torsion springs 21 on either side of the support plate 18 as
seen perpendicular to the direction of movement of the support
plate 18. The torsion springs 21 tend to coil about a rotatable
axis 22. One end of the longitudinal and sheet shaped torsion
springs 21 is attached relative to the housing body 3, whereas
the opposite end thereof is attached to the rotatable axis 22.
Upon dispensing the sheet products from the dispenser 1, the
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support plate 18 is pushed by the springs 21 towards the front,
wherein the springs 21 coil about the thereby rotating axis 22.
Yet, also other mechanisms are conceivable such as a tension
spring fixed at one end relative to the support plate 18 and at
the other end relative to the housing body 3.
During refilling of the dispenser it may happen, as described
in the introductory portion, that too many sheet products are
filled into the compartment 14. As a consequence, the pressure
between the front face of the stack of sheet products (the
first or leading sheet product in the stack of sheet products)
may become rather high upon closing of the cover 4.
Accordingly, there is a certain risk that the dispensing
mechanism 6 cannot properly operate dispensing the wrong number
of sheet products or even no sheet product. If a manual
dispenser without a dispensing mechanism 6 is employed,
problems may occur to the user when withdrawing one sheet
product at a time which may lead to too many sheet products
being dispensed. In either case, there is a high likelihood
that sheet products will be damaged during dispensing. To
counteract these disadvantages an overfilling prevention
mechanism is suggested, which is described in the following.
The overfilling prevention mechanism includes a link 23 and a
stop 29 operated by the link 23.
The link 23 is a rigid and longitudinal bar. Further, the link
23 is translationally guided within the housing body 3. In
particular, the link 23 is reciprocally movable in parallel to
the longitudinal extension of the guides 16 and the
longitudinal opening 17. A front end of the link 23 extends
through an opening in the front wall 12 of the housing body 3
and protrudes therefrom as shown in figure 1. The front end of
the link 23 has a contact surface 24 for cooperation with a
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counter surface 25 of the cover 4 facing the front wall 12 of
the housing body 3. The contact surface 24 is curved whereas
the counter surface 25 is planar. In particular, the contact
surface 24 slopes in a top or bottom view from a most distanced
position relative to the front wall 12 towards the front wall
12 in a direction of the axis of rotation of the cover 4. This
is best visible from the figures 2B and 3B. Consequently, a low
friction contact can be realized between the contact surface 24
and the counter surface 25 when closing the cover 4.
Furthermore, a compression spring 26 is provided to urge the
link toward the cover 4. The compression spring 26 is at one
end supported by a shoulder 27 of the link 23 and at the
opposite end at a not shown support fixed relative to the
housing body 3. Accordingly, the link 3 is pushed by the
compression spring 26 away from the back wall 10 in the
direction of the cover 4 or the front wall 12. As a result, the
link 23 is automatically moved forward when opening the cover
4.
Moreover the link 23 has, as shown in figure 4, a cam surface
39 and a return surface 41 in its lower surface. The cam
surface 39 is formed by an inclined surface delimiting a recess
in the lower surface of the link 23. The return surface 41 is
formed by a wall delimiting the recess opposite to the cam
surface 39 in a direction of movement of the link 23. Upon
movement of the link 23, the cam surface 39/return surface 41
engages with a mechanical switch 40 fixed relative to the
housing body 3 whereby the mechanical switch is switched. Thus,
a control of the dispenser 1 may conclude on opening of the
cover 4 and the link 23 provides for a double function
(overfilling prevention and cover sensor).
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Moreover, the link 23 has a front face 28 at an end opposite to
the contact surface 24. This front face 28 is configured for
cooperation with the stop 29.
The stop 29 is in the example rotatably supported relative to
the housing body 3 about an axis of rotation 30 (best seen in
figure 2A). The stop 29 as a lever arm 31 on one side of the
axis of rotation 30 and a stop member 32 on the opposite side
of the axis of rotation 30.
The lever arm 31 has at its end opposite to the axis of
rotation 30 a counter surface 33 for the corporation with the
front face 28 of the link 23. The stop 29 and the link 23 are
not physically connected but only contact each other at the
front face 28 and the counter surface 33. Yet, in other
embodiments, the link 23 and the stop 29 may be physically
connected by a joint.
The stop member 32 has at its end opposite to the axis of
rotation 30 a stop surface 34. The stop surface 34 may engage
with a counter stop surface 35 of the guide member 20 of the
support plate 18 as will be explained later.
The stop is urged by a tension spring 36 (schematically
indicated in figure 2A) about the axis of rotation in a
counterclockwise direction. For this purpose, the tension
spring 36 is attached at one end at an integrally formed hook
37 and at the opposite end relative to the housing body 3.
In order to prevent over-rotation of the stop 29 about the axis
of rotation of 30, a projection 38 is provided at the stop
member 32, i.e. close to the stop surface 34. The projection 38
comes into engagement with a side surface of one of the guides
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16 thereby preventing a further rotation of the stop member 29
about the axis 30.
In the following, the function of the overfilling prevention
mechanism is explained.
Once the dispenser 1 requires refilling, a user moves the cover
4 to the open refilling position shown in figure 1. Due to the
urging force of the compression spring 26, the link 23 moves
forward (in a direction from the back wall 10 to the front wall
12). Thereby, the return surface 41 engages with and switches
the switch 40. As a result, the control recognizes that the
cover 4 is in the open refilling position and may for example
disable the dispensing mechanism 6.
Because of the movement, the front face 28 of the link 23 moves
away from the stop 29 (upward in figure 2A). Due to the spring
force of the tension spring 36, the stop 29 is rotated about
the axis of rotation 30 in a counterclockwise direction.
Thereby, the stop member 32, and particularly the stop surface
34, are moved into the movement path of the guide member 20. A
further rotation in this state is prevented by the engagement
of the projection 38 with one of the guides 16 (the right hand
guide 16 in figure 2A).
This state is shown in the drawings and may be referred to as
overfilling prevention state. When a user now refills the
dispenser with sheet products introduced through the opening 11
and/or the top when the top wall 13 is removed, the support
plate 18 will be pushed toward the back wall 10 against the
spring force of the torsion springs 21. In this overfilling
prevention state, the support plate 18 may only be moved toward
the back wall 10 until engagement of the counter stop surface
35 of the guide member 20 with the stop surface 34 of the stop
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member 32 of the stop 29. In this state, the compartment 14 has
a first volume.
If the user feels that enough sheet products have been placed
in the dispenser, the cover 4 will be closed and, hence, be
rotated (moved) into the closed use position. During this
process, the counter surface 25 engages with the contact
surface 24, whereby the link 28 is pushed towards the back wall
10 against the spring force of the compression spring 26. Due
to the contact between the front face 28 and the counter
surface 33, the movement of the link 23 acting on the lever arm
31, the stop 29 is rotated about the axis of rotation 30 in a
clockwise direction against the spring force of the tension
spring 36. As a result, the stop member 32 and particularly the
stop surface 34 are rotated out of the movement path of the
guide member 20. As a result, further movement of the support
plate 18 to increase the first volume of the compartment 14 to
a second volume larger than the first volume is enabled. As a
consequence, any pressure which may have occurred due to
overfilling of sheet products into the compartment 14 during
the overfilling prevention state may be relieved by a further
movement of the support plate 18 towards the back wall 10
increasing the volume of the compartment. Consequently, the
overfilling prevention mechanism of the present disclosure
reliably avoids any risk of a too high pressure between the
leading sheet products and/or the leading sheet product and a
cover 4. Accordingly, problems when dispensing the sheet
products from the dispenser 1 may be avoided or at least be
reduced. To use this mechanism, the user merely needs to open
the cover 4 so that the mechanism is easy and reliably to use.
Further and upon closing of the cover 4, the cam surface 39 of
the link 23 again engages with and switches the switch 40 50
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21
that the control can conclude that the cover 4 has been closed
and again enable the dispensing mechanism 6.
If one opens the cover 4 in this state, the link 23 cooperating
with the switch 40 may still be used to conclude on an open
position of the cover. If the stack of sheet products occupies
the portion of the second volume used to relieve the pressure
as described above, the support plate 18 has passed by the stop
29 and the stop 29 is prevented from rotating into the movement
path of the support plate 18 by the guide member 20 (the stop
member 32 abuts at a side surface of the guide member 20 and
thereby rotation of the stop 29 is prevented). Because the link
23 and the stop 29 are not physically connected (attached to
each other) the link 23 still moves forward, the return surface
41 acts on and switches the switch 40, whereby the open
position of the cover 4 may be detected.
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiment is a
mere example and various modifications are conceivable. As
previously mentioned, the dispenser can also be oriented
differently with the dispensing opening 5 directed upward or
downward. It could as well be a wall-mounted dispenser.
Also the cover 4 may be rotatably attached to the housing body
3 about a horizontal axis of rotation. According to an
alternative embodiment, the cover 4 may also be attached to be
rotatably and translationally movable relative to the housing
body 3 in order to bring the cover 4 into the open refilling
position and the closed use position.
Even further, various different urging mechanisms for urging
the separate elements such as the link 23, the stop 29 and the
support plate 18 in a specific direction can be implemented
instead of the used springs 21, 26 and 36.
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22
Furthermore, the embodiment has been described with respect to
an automatic dispenser having a dispensing mechanism 6 driven
by an electric motor. Yet, the present disclosure may also be
implemented in manual dispensers in which the dispensing
mechanism 6 is manually driven (for example by actuating a
lever) or even fully manual dispensers in which the sheet
products are dispensed by gripping and pulling the sheet
products manually.
Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the above
embodiment but various modifications and alterations are
conceivable within the scope of the appended claims.
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List of references
Dispenser 1
housing 2
housing body 3
cover 4
dispensing opening 5
dispensing mechanism 6
button 7
side walls 8
bottom 9
back wall 10
refilling opening 11
front wall 12
top wall 13
compartment 14
bottom plate 15
guide 16
longitudinal opening 17
support plate 18
support surface 19
guide member 20
torsion springs 21
rotatable axis 22
link 23
contact surface 24
counter surface 25
compression spring 26
shoulder 27
front face 28
stop 29
axis of rotation 30
lever arm 31
stop member 32
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counter surface 33
stop surface 34
counter stop surface 35
tension spring 36
hook 37
projection 38
cam surface 39
switch 40
return surface 41
